the saint and the grave robber - brigham young university

BYU Studies Quarterly BYU Studies Quarterly

Volume 33 Issue 1 Article 2

1-1-1993

The Saint and the Grave Robber The Saint and the Grave Robber

John Devitry-Smith

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Recommended Citation Recommended Citation Devitry-Smith, John (1993) "The Saint and the Grave Robber," BYU Studies Quarterly: Vol. 33 : Iss. 1 , Article 2. Available at: https://scholarsarchive.byu.edu/byusq/vol33/iss1/2

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the saint and the grave robberconverted in the australian goldfieldsgoldfields frederick william hurstandyjohnandjohnand tohnjohn de baptiste became miningminingpartnerspartners andjellowand fellowjellow emi-grants but in utah theirtheirpathspaths made a jekyllajekyll undand hyde split

john devitry smith

the colony of victoria australia produced one third of theworlds gold found in the 1850s as a result every imaginable typeof person converged on the area 1 this assemblage coupled withenglandsglandsEn earlier social amputation of its worst souls to what wasthen a place ofperpetual exile transformed the worlds largest islandinto what robert hughes in his classic book the fatal shore termeda wicked noahsmoahs ark ofsmalltimesmall time criminality 2 amid this upheavalmissionaries from the church of jesus christ of latter day saintsventured into the goldfieldsgoldfields in an ambitious attempt to gain a foot-hold in an area where supposedly rum and gold was all the god thepeople wanted 3

the victorian goldfieldsgoldfields particularly proved to be a jekyll andhyde of tragedy and triumph where the age old struggle betweengood and evil was magnified in one small area of the globe two con-verts of the victorian goldfieldsgoldfields frederick william hurst and johnde baptiste both members of the castlemaine branch and part-ners in the diggings especially personify this relationship these twomen apparently sharing many of the same hopes and dreamstraveled the road of lifefifeilfe together for a time but eventuallymet greatlycontrasting fates

fred hurstsbursts experiences while opening a window on theorigins of the church in victoria more significantly demonstrate a

metamorphosis from a happy go lucky teenager with seeminglylittle religious inclination to a stalwart defender of the faith with anunshakable commitment to the latter day saint cause although a

byustudies33BYU studies 33 no 1 1993

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Devitry-Smith: The Saint and the Grave Robber

Published by BYU ScholarsArchive, 1993

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virtual unknown in LDS church history fred quickly became oneof those quiet people vital to the churchschurche success apostle john A

widtsoe recalls of hurst he had a marked effect upon my life forI1 never have spoken with him without feeling that I1 had receiveda lift and was better prepared to carry on in my work 4

in direct contrast a recent article in the deseretdeseretnewsnemsnews writes ofjohn de baptiste the worst villain in salt lake cityscites early historyprobably wasnt a murderer or even a member of a band of out-laws probably the most gruesome criminal was a grave robber whodesecrated as many as 300 burial sites in the cityscites cemetery whilemuch space has been given to writing about the monster of the

great salt lake if there was a monster baptiste is the best reallife candidate 1155 wilford woodruff records baptistesbaptisterBaptistes deeds as themostDaninidamniabledaniniableableabie sicc diabolical satanical helishbelish sacralegesSacraleges sic5 c

recorded in the history of man 6 historian dale L morgan addsthat the baptiste affair provided great salt lake with the strangestepisode in its whole history 1I7

complexion of the victoria goldfieldsGoldfields

the lure of gold was the impetus for both baptistesbaptisterBaptistes and hurstsburstsdecisions to venture to australia a country still considered a vastprison for englandsglandsEn criminals an idea perpetuated since the landingof the first convict ship in 1788 81 an article in the times and sea-sons of april 1845 for example refers to the colonies as the greatdepot for the transportation of british convicts 9 enforcing the ideaofaustralia as a less than desirable place to live let alone serve a missionindeed in writing of his mission call to australia thomas threevesshreevesThreevesreferred to what a searing experience it had been for the last or-ganized group ofamerican missionaries assigned to victoria in 1856

friends informed me that I1 was called to australasiaaustralasianAustralasia and offeredme their sympathy during the remainder of the week I1 was therecipient of inumerable condolences one brother said to me thatsthe hardest mission in the world some of the men who were lastcalled to labour in that field victoria educated and experiencedpreachers returned in ten months utterly discouraged anothersaid As good a mormon as I1 am I1 would rather go to purgatory andpreach to the spirits in prison than to take your mission and finallyanother one said the kind of missionary needed in that land is aman like orson pratt 10

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BYU Studies Quarterly, Vol. 33, Iss. 1 [1993], Art. 2


saint and the grave robber 9

when the first LDS missionaries arrived in australia theirimpressions at times seemed contradictory but the general tenor oftheir reports was very negative charles wandell who organized thefirst branch of the church in victoria illustrates this point thesecolonies have been underatedunaeratedunderated because they were formerly con-vict colonies but permit me to assure you that it would be difficulteven in england to find a more orderly decent and hard workingpopulation than exists here 11 but later wandell stated australiais the hell into which england casts her devils and the diggings arethe deepest most fearful pits thereof here are literally swarms ofconvicts who are absolutely and entirely lost to all fear of god orregard to man 111212

similarly augustus farnham the third president of the austral-asian mission more often noted the hellish aspects of the area

1853118531855 they are as hard a set of beings as I1 ever met 13

1854 it is true the people of these lands are a peculiar people beinggenerally dead to interests of religion caring but little what the trueprinciples of the gospel are it may indeed be said of them that theirfaith is a mere tradition their worship an empty form the impressionbeing transitory ending with the service when they again devotethemselves to gold and pleasure but withal there are some as goodand honest people in these lands as can be found on the earth 14

185511855 this wicked people are addicted to everyviceevery vice it requires menof some experience to stand the test within the midst of the persecu-tion we have to meet 15

1856 this is a land of darkness the devil himself I1 believe is ashamedof many of these inhabitants and if he is not I1 am 16

although the american missionaries did not often clarify thespecific areas in australia deserving of their most stinging criticismapparently the colony of victoria was the worst offender farnhamreports of victoria it does appear that almost allanaliail who have beendriven adrift by the different winds of spirits have been driven to thispart of the world being the most abandoned characters who disre-gard all principles of morality victoria being the greatest sewer ofiniquity on account of its being strictly the mining colony has thegreatest number of such men 111717

similar sentiments were echoed by burr frost presiding elderover the victorian conference from 1853 to 1854 1 I1 generally meet

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in this country the most profane men of all that are addicted tobad habits 18 reflecting on country and people joseph kellymissionary to victoria and tasmania from 1856 to 1857 wrotethis is as near the gates ofhell I1 wish to be adding that he felt little

desire to convert the people as they would only be a curse to oursociety at home 19

frederick burstshursts conversion and mission

mingled in the australian crowd were john de baptiste andfrederick william hurst two of the estimated 463000 people toarrive in victoria between 1851 and 1861 2011 hurst had immigratedwith his family from the british isles to new zealand in 1840 andat the age of nineteen had decided to join a company of six othermen to try his luck in the goldfieldsgoldfields 21 fred recorded his initialimpressions upon landing at port phillip melbourne in the laterpart of 185218522222

the city was literally crowded withpeople it seemed to me they werefrom all nations all was hustle and confusion large nuggets of goldwere to be seen in the brokers windows also large piles of souveniers sic and bank notes specimens of gold quartz all kinds of re-ports were in circulation respecting the mines the roads were linedwith teams of all kinds people of all nations and colourscolouos and gradessome few respectable but the more part escaped convicts cutthroatscutthroatsmurderers thieves gamblers blacklegs in fact to make a long storyshort the skumakum sic of the earth were there to use a commonexpression all hell let loose 112323

A contemporary description of melbourne at the height of the goldrush in the early 1850s agrees with hurstsbursts description calling thecity a modemmodern tower of babel the resort of hooligans drunks andgamblers one of the circles of hell come upon earth 24

eager to leave melbourne and begin hurstsbursts group walkedseventy muddy miles to forest creek near castlemaine wherebeing inexperienced they dug in the most unlikely places aftertwo weeks of backbreakingback breaking labor out of money and in debt thedisillusioned party disbanded and all but fred sold their tools leftwith sixpence but determined to make good in the goldfieldsgoldfieldsfred found work at a store some distance from melbourne therehe made enough money to get started again at the same time he

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victoria australia the map shows port phillip bay where hurst landed aswell as bendigo and castlemaine the areas where hurst and de baptiste workedin the goldfieldsgoldfields

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became more acquainted with the area and learned how to stay awayfrom trouble 25

fred recounted the constant dangers of everyday life

not a day or night passed but what some dreadful tragedy would hap-pen for instance I1 was at moonlight flat one man armed with pistolsmet an elderly gentleman stopped him in sight of hundreds of men inopen daylight and demanded his money or his life he handed overhis money to the robber walked on about twelve steps turned andfired at the villain and shot him in the back of the neck and he fell in theroad the gentleman then returned to the body got his money and leftthe fellow in his blood again on montgomery hill close by two menquarreled one seized a double barrel gun fired at his partner andblew his mouth and one side of his face away the blood and brainsflew all over the wall ofthe house again nearer still close by our storea man was shot dead he had robbed mr steels store of a bag of flourweighing 200 pounds mr steel watched him come out from the backof the store fired at him and he fell dead in the public street the youngman who had stolen the flour was well off times would fail me torecord even one hundredth part of what daily occurred 2616

leaving the store in january 18551853 fred went again to thediggings of bendigo where he met an old acquaintance from newzealand by the name of francis evans fred had previously knownevans as a very zealous methodist 2127112727 but unknown to fred evanshad been investigating the mormon church in bendigo fredmade money hand over fist28 until news of the death of his father

forced his return to new zealand freds family was overjoyed tosee him again his sister amelia crying with joy little could fredhave realized the wedge soon to be driven between them resultingin his name being stricken from the family bible

after a brief stay fred decided to return to the goldfieldsgoldfields thistime accompanied by his brothersalfred and charles clement and bytheir friend thomas holder 299 they arrived in melbourne in lateoctober 1853 the group made the fateful decision to stay overnightat the home of francis evans at the evanss home the three hurstbrothers and thomas holder were introduced to an american elderburr frost 30 frost along with paul smith was part of a group ofoftentenamerican missionaries who had landed in sydney australia in latemarch 1853 and were assigned to victoria 31

previous attempts to establish a mission in the colony ofvictoria had made little headway john murdock first president

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marking the claim by samuel T gill who went to the goldfieldsgoldfields in1852 traveling to castlemaine mount alexander and bendigo the nextyear he published this and twenty three other sketches of the goldfieldsgoldfieldssee n 134 courtesy of the state library of victoria

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of the australasian mission arrived in melbourne on december 1918511851 with little more than pocket change and a quantity ofbooksbut found few men in the city and the people in a perfect uproarafter a stay of about ten days of extreme difficulty feeling thesituation a hopeless one murdock decided to return to sydney 3231

charles wandell arrived in melbourne the following year threeweeks after fred hurst and company landed from new zealand 33

wandell preached outdoors to what he considered orderly congre-gationsgations and before leaving melbourne had organized a very prom-ising little branch 21341134233434 burr frost sent to melbourne to follow up onwandellslandellsWandells initial inroads had been set apart as the presiding elder ofthe victorian conference 35

As evans had a cabin in the goldfieldsgoldfields and would be remainingin melbourne for a time he asked fred and company if they wouldlike to live there taking care of the place until his return they readilyagreed to this proposal 3631 the next day the four men continued onto the diggings arriving at the cabin five days later on a sunday nightthe following week to the surprise ofthe hurst brothers and thomasholder who were still at dinner a number of francis evanss friendsarrived declaring they were going to hold a meeting fred asked oneof the preachers william cooke if he would take a cup of coffeeand a conversation commenced 37 fred remembering evans as anavid methodist was eager to be on his way as were charles clementand thomas but alfred being quite religious implored them to stay 38138311

fred hurst remembers the deep and lasting impression cookeleft on him the first time he heard the elder preach an account mostrevealing as to the methods of proselyting for the era

the preacher william cooke came out and said we had better comein for he would do us no harm I1 thought it would look rather disre-spectfulspectful if we went away so concluded to stay well shortly after-wards the meeting commenced I1 must confess I1 was struck at thepeculiarity of the hymns the hymn books were in pamphlet form andheaded church of jesus christ of latter day saints I1 thought tomyself the methodists are getting up if I1 was astonished at the hymnsand tunes I1 was still more so at the prayer that was offered up by thepreacher he prayed to the lord to bless the prophet seer and reve-lator brigham young his councelorscounselorscounce lors sic the twelve apostles andothers I1 was full of wonder and curiosity I1 never had such feelingsbefore in my life I1 asked myself the question who can brigham youngbe and again who can the twelve apostles be it would be impos-sible formeforvor me to tell the hundredth part ofwhatpassedwhat passed through myniindmynimy mindind

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after singing another hymn the preacher read a passage fromthe book of mormon what book can that be thought I1 to myselfI1 would very much like to read it for I1 had never heard that there wassuch a book before well to proceed the preacher also read part ofthe15th chapter of st marks gospel and then preached faith repen-tance baptism for the remission of sins also the gift of the holy ghostby the imposition of hands talked about joseph smith gave us abrief history ofthe church the persecutions etc I1 cannot describe myfeelings I1 could not help paying deep attention yea I1 felt inspiredmy heart was drawn towards the speaker I1 watched for every wordfor it seemed good to my soulsoui 39

ironically as soon as cooke and his associates had departedalfred supposedly the more religious of the three brothers com-menced a long tirade against the mormonscormonsMormons warning his brothersthat the mormonscormons were a very dangerous people who practicedplurality of wives a most abominable doctrine 40

nevertheless fred and charles clement hurst decided to in-vestigatevestigate this newfound oddity for themselves fred recalled weattended every mormon meeting and most every evening we wentand heard them sing I1 got real fond of their company though thegood christians called us fools said we were deluded 41

in the weeks following fred and his group worked hard andlong hours but extracted very little gold and alfred talked ofreturn-ing home with the arrival of francis evans and family fred hurstadmitted we had mormonism from morning until night and mightI1 say from night til morning alfred hurst could get no peace andfinally after staying three weeks returned to new zealand takingwhat little gold and cash his companions had 42 fred and alfredsbrotherly friendship would never be the same

fred and charles clement hurst were baptized january 12

1854 followed by thomas holder the next week 4313 less than twomonths after being baptized fred and charles clement wrote homedetailing their conversion and stating how excited they were tobring their family the news of the restored gospel the brothersthought that as soon as the family heard the truth they wouldreadily accept it however the two men were dreadfully mistakentheir mother and sisters wrote back letters that contained noarguments but were fullfallfuli of false accusations and abuse towards

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joseph smith and the church in general adding that they wereashamed to own the brothers any longer as members of the familyfred reflects

my heart was so sore I1 could not forbear shedding tears I1 then beganto realize that I1 had to round up my shoulders though forsaken by myown dear mother brothers and sisters and obey all the command-ments of god as far and as fast as they were made known to meto tell the truth after this I1 began to realize that all those who obeyedthe requirements of the gospel were nearer and dearer to me than allmy former friends or relatives well we wrote home repeatedly butreceived no answer to our letters although I1 stated in them if theywould prove from the bible that the doctrines of even polygamy wasunscriptural I1 would renounce mormonism 44

fred continued to write and beg for a fair hearing but to no availto each family member he wrote personal letters similar to the fol-lowing one addressed to his older brother alfred

do you think we would have left our home and dear mother and sis-ters behind on mere belief again do you think for one moment we liewhen we say we know the gospel is true and that it came from goddo you think we would risk our salvation in this manner 0 my dearbrother I1 beg and entreat you to examine these principles and obeythem and then to ask god for a testimony and he will give it to you 45

but freds efforts were in vain and after three years nothing hadchanged fred recorded part of a letter he received from his sisteramelia she is very much opposed to mormonism wants to knowhow long clem is to be a slave to those witches 46 because fred wascharles clements older brother he carried the blame for charlesclement having joined the church

the impact that the local members such as hurst had on thegrowth of the church cannot be underestimated since much ofamerican elder burr frosts time was spent at melbourne whileelder paul smith concentrated on geelonggeebongGeelong correspondence re-veals very little headway was made in these respective areas badweather had restricted frost to less than half a dozen meetings inthe first five months in melbourne 47

with never enough experienced preachers to cover so widean area the mission president was forced to continually travel givingcounsel and checking that all was in order while trying to watch

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over present converts and at the same time open new ground themission was forced to improvise with whatever men they had thatwere willing to be called to help further the gospel message fredhurst for example was called within months of his baptism andordained to preach in the bendigo gold mines and build up the

saints scattered over the country 48 little regard was given con-cerning his inexperience and his inability to bear his testimony letalone conduct a meeting fred admitted when called upon to speakin public I1 would commence trembling 49

the following experience by hurst helps illustrate the burdensome of the new converts were willing to shoulder on behalf ofthe church after being called on his first mission to golden gullybendigo fred writes of his arrival and subsequent tribulations

the brothers and sisters were all very glad to see me I1 felt deter-mined to do my best though I1 had never preached before well thefirst time I1 got the saints together I1 opened the meeting with prayerbut could not muster the courage to address the saints consequentlyI1 read portion of the millennial star and as I1 did not speak myself I1 feltashamed to call upon anyone else I1 felt real miserable for I1 felt I1 wasnot doing my duty sunday come and we had quite a congregation butI1 felt worse than I1 did on wednesday evening previous although I1 hadprayed and fasted the very thought of preaching made me loath thesight of food it took away my appetite entirely

before going to meeting I1 would resolve in my own mind tospeak but as soon as the second hymn was sung I1 would be seized bya trembling fit all ideas would flee from my mind and I1 would have totake up the star or some other book and read however on wednes-day while at work I1 got in conversation with a man and preached tohim about the gospel while talking with him I1 told him if he wouldcome up to meeting that evening he would hear an elder preach on thefirst principals of the gospel he promised he would come after hehad left me I1 began to reflect on what I1 had told him respecting themeeting I1 turned sick at the idea I1 could not eat my supper butI1 washed myself and went down hoping the man would not be therebut all my hopes were turned to slopes for there the man sat as largeas life I1 cannot describe my feelings at this time but after salutinghim I1 went into the woods alone and besought the lord to have com-passion on me after doing so I1 felt relieved and returned we openedthe meeting and in spite of all hell I1 arose to my feet opened to the3rdard chapter of st johns gospel and after reading a few verses mytongue was loosened and before I1 was aware of it I1 was preachingI1 never have spoken more freely in my life and it was a strong testi-mony to me of the truth of mormonismMonnonism and I1 felt thankful beyond

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measure and with my whole heart I1 praised my maker the brethrenand sisters were very much astonished but not more so than myself 5051

near the end of december 1854 fred hurst received instruc-tions to relocate to castlemaine51castlemaine51 and begin preparations to leave forzion as plans were being made by burr frost to have a companyready the following year in castlemaine fred had great success inthe diggings after entering into a partnership with recent convertjohn de baptiste hurst and baptiste worked well together and eachcleared 1000 the first six weeks 5251

baptistesbaptisterBaptistes conversion

at the outset baptiste seemed to fit the mold of religiousseeker while in contrast hurst appeared a more unlikely candi-date for baptism as he had an honest skepticism towards religion ingeneral nevertheless both men had made a strong commitment tothe church soon after hearing the gospel message hurst acceptedmissionary calls and baptiste donated his own property for churchuse both also answered the call to gather with the main body of thesaints in utah

while sources provide insight into fred hurstsbursts conversionvery little remains to illuminate baptistesbaptisterBaptistes motives or intentions injoining the church or the turn his character took

baptiste was bombornbob in 1814 reportedly in venice italy 53 andwasandaasand wasattracted to the australian goldfieldsgoldfields in the early 1850s he first camein contact with the church in 1854 at castlemaine victoria baptistehad called at the elders tent just outside castlemaine inquiring ifhe could in some way help cover the costs of the church of christburr frost who was present with a number of other elders askedbaptiste his name and what he believed baptiste answered that hecould not speak english very well but believed the bible to be theword of god 5451

A conversation followed and baptiste told them he had beenraised as a roman catholic from youth but he saw much error init and concluded to join the church of england thinking they mightbe right he soon tired of them and joined the methodists and had upto the present time been advocating their principles elder frost

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replied thattiethatthethat the men in the tent were preachers and explained indetail the scriptures and organization of the church baptiste gotin quiet sic a frenzy and called out 1 I will become a baby I1 willbecome a baby I1 want to be baptized frost told him not to be ina hurry that he should carefully consider what they had talkedabout before making any hasty decisions no no no I1 want to bebaptized responded baptiste 55

following baptistesbaptisterBaptistes baptism burr frost and james mcknightwere requested by baptiste to accompany him home he took themto downtown castlemaine and showed them a woode frame cha-pel about 60 x 35 in size constructed with the best materials andsupplied with good seats chandeliers and a pulpit there belovedbrethren you shall have that to preach in it is my own propertyI1 have built it with my own hands and at my own expense statedbaptiste he had partitioned off a small section of the building tolive in and informed the elders that he had been in the habit ofhold-ing meetings every sunday 5651

the building was an asset to the local missionaries who previ-ously had had no option other than to speak in the open air orthe confines of a tent fred hurst recalls it was the first time he hadever spoken in a chapel with a pulpit 57 baptistesbaptisterBaptistes chapel was alsoused by the church members for business affairs such as the pay-ment of gold 5851

hurstsbursts and baptistesbaptisterBaptistes immigration journeys

burr frost had been working for some time to organize the first

exodus of converts from victoria to utah hurst and baptiste wereamong the seventy two passengers who left hobsons bay onapril 271855 aboard the ill fated tarquiniotarquinia59tarquiniatafTarturquinia 59anan old craft the tarquinia started leaking after leaving tahiti and docked for repairs athonolulu where a great number ofbad feelings surfaced among thegroup A number of the passengers baptiste among them decidedto remain at honolulu feeling they could no longer continue with thecompany in part because they doubted the tarquiniotarquiniaTarquinia would everget to san pedro Calicallcailcaliforniafomia 6010 over a week later the vessel sailedagain but after three days gale force winds strained the vessel so

much she began to leak badly on both sides forcing the captain to

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return to honolulu further repairs proved fruitless and the ship wassold for salvage 61

at honolulu work was hard to find but baptiste was apparentlyfinancially secure he became part of a branch organized byjohnbyjohn Tcaine on august 19 1855 and was ordained a teacher 6261

the majority of the passengers had no money or means tocontinue on to san francisco fred hurst who had approximately

1000 in gold sewn up in his clothing characteristically turnedall of it over to church leaders leaving himself almost pennilessunemployed and stranded in honolulu 63 the local mission leadereager to take advantage of hurstsbursts missionary zeal asked him toaccept a mission among the natives to which he agreed 6461 for fredhurst hardship and trials seemed to accompany his joining thechurch but his humble heart and ability to make the best of anysituation was revealed during the time he proselytized on the islandofofwaialuawaialua in the sandwich islands

I1 spent the day pleasantly thinking how much better off I1 amnow than I1 was before I1 became a member ofthe kingdom of god notin the things of the world for I1 have only a suit of clothes and theyhave seen their best days for I1 see my elbows begin to show throughmy coat sleeves I1 am almost barefoot I1 have an old pair of low shoesand every now and then I1 have to take them off and empty the sandout of them as the roads are very sandy and heavy I1 have no socksI1 do not look for my reward in this life I1 look for it in the world tocome I1 think sometime when I1 begin to get lonely what jesus christsuffered also the apostles joseph smith and others and then I1 feelas if I1 ought to suffer at times for one thing I1 do know it is with muchtribulation that we enter the kingdom and unless I1 run the race howcan I1 expect to win the prize I1 try to cast all care aside and put mytrust in the lord my earnest desire is to get the language of this peopleso I1 can declare the gospel of christ in its purity unto them no onecan tell except by experience what pleasure it is to stand up and beartestimony to the truthfulness of this work in the hawaiian languageI1 realize already that it pays for all trouble of learning it so much formy thoughts 6515

fred served faithfully until his release in october 1856 thefollowing month fred sailed for san francisco along with his brothercharles clement who had notyet turned eighteen they landed withthirty seven and one half cents between them 66 here hurst andbaptiste crossed paths again baptiste had arrived in san francisco

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in latetebruarylate february 1856 and was still there in april 1857 baptiste gave

fred who had no warm clothing a good cloth coat 67

despite his success in the victorian goldfieldsgoldfields and his dire finan-cial situation fred never hinted at trying the california diggingsfreds desire for gold had turned to souls and upon being informedthat there was a shortage of elders in the conference fred andcharles clement decided upon a mission to northern californiasince joining the church three years earlier fred had been continu-ally engaged in missionary work which had taken its toll on himboth physically and mentally in the following weeks fred wrote

I1 have felt a kind of low spirit this last day or two I1 seem to be tiredin both mind and body I1 feel there is a great responsibility resting onme and I1 feel to realize it more every day it makes me feel my ownnothingness and I1 feel like putting my trust in the bordatlordatlord at all timesthe saints all tell me I1 look pale and thin I1 weighed myself when I1 wasin stockton and instead of weighing 152 ibslbs I1 lack 20 of it the mostI1 could go walking stick and all was 132 ibslbs 68

shortly after george Q cannon met with fred and charlesclement and told them not to kill themselves traveling all over thecountry during this time elder cannon also gave fred a blessing 69

in the latter part of september fred was sent on a special missionto warn all the saints to be ready to gather at a moments notice asgovernment troops were marching on utah 70

finally in early october fred started for utah via san bernar-dino arriving in salt lake city on march 20 1858 71 the followingweek he was present to hear brigham young speak in the taber-nacle and wrote 1I have felt to rejoice all the day long I1 realize thatit is a very great privilege to listen to the teachings of the fountain-head or the first presidency oh how long and anxious I1 have lookedforward to the day when I1 could see the prophets brigham heberand hear their voices 2172117272

baptistesbaptisterBaptistes grave robbing

baptiste had also made his way to salt lake city around the sametime as hurst and by 1859 had been hired to dig graves and burythe dead at the salt lake cemetery east of the city he built a small

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fydjbsttfciaMW attention of theibe mediad faculty iaIs specUiaflydirecudy dhvctod to the above ciesarticleacleaanticleaattiartiattlclescleacies which areore manusutured6kctaredfutured in theum amtnwtumt perfect marinmazinmezinxmumerr fur the purporepurpofttcpurpovefntauied 14 tfadvertisement placed by john de baptiste the advertiseadvertisementmentmeniappeared in the 1857 western standard which was published in san francisco and was edited by george Q cannon

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home next to the graveyard and shortly thereafter married a simpleminded woman together they opened a millinery and tailors shop 73

his ghoulish illegal activities came to light january 27 1862but his crime first began to unravel four weeks earlier when a gangof half a dozen lowlifeslowlifes took it upon themselves to pay back thengovernor john W dawson who was fleeing from utah alreadyresented and very unpopular dawson had apparently made im-proper proposals to a well known salt lake society lady whoresented his advances and informed friends of his conduct de-spite dawsonslawsonsDawsons quiet and quick exit from salt lake the gang soonovertook the mail stage almost beat dawson to death and robbedthe stagecoach 7471

by january 16 1862 three of the gang members were deadmoroni rone clawson andanotherwereanotherwere shot to death on 200 southin salt lake city while trying to escape from police 75 clawsonsbodyclawsonsClawsons bodyinitially went unclaimed and thus by default was buried in the northsalt lake cemetery local police officer henry heath in a humanitar-ian gesture paid to have clawson properly clothed for burial in thedays following some of clawsonsClawsons family obtained permissionfrom the sexton jesse C little to exhume the body and remove it todraper but upon opening the coffin they found the body nakedshortly thereafter george clawson confronted officer heath ex-pressing his disgust over how his brother had been buried in such adisgraceful manner despite the lawmanslaimanslawmans adamant denial to thecontrary A frustrated and suspicious heath soon confided in pro-bate judge elias smith who ordered him to look into the matter 76

in an effort to quietly resolve the affair heath first approachedsexton jesse C little who could shed no light on the event fromthere officer heath george clawson and two other men traveled tobaptistesbaptisterBaptistes home on third avenue where they found only his wifeat home while making inquiries about her husbands whereaboutsthe men could not help noticing numerous boxes inside the houseA casual glance inside one of the boxes raised gasps of horrid sur-prise for it revealed a motley sickening heap of fresh soiled linenand funeral shrouds 1777117777 many bundles of grave clothes werefound throughout baptistesbaptisterBaptistes house along with a large box filledfined withinfants clothing about sixty pairs of childrens shoes and about a

18




dozen mens garments including shirts caps socks and many partsof suits of females 2178117878

after the initial shock officer henry heath became particularlyincensed over the morbid discovery he feared the grave of hisidolized daughter who had been recently buried in the cemetery

had also been desecrated with personal feelings overriding hisprofessional calling heath calculated the killing of baptiste thenand there in the graveyard if his suspicions should be confirmed 79

the men then proceeded through the snow to the cemetery andfound baptiste one report has baptiste picking up cobble stones 80

another has him working in the frozen ground digging a new gravebaptiste was reportedly wearing a broadcloth prince albert suit inwhich a local saloonkeeper had recently been buried officer henryheath later wrote of the confrontation

I1 at once charged him with robbing the dead and he fell upon hisknees calling god to witness that he was innocent the evidence wastoo strong and I1 choked the wretch into a confession when he beggedfor his life as a human being never pleaded before I1 dragged him toa grave near my daughters and pointing to it inquired did you robthat grave his reply was yes then directing his attention tothe mound of earth which covered my childs remains I1 repeated thequestion with bated breath and with the firm resolve to kill him shouldhe answer in the affirmative no no not that one not that one thatanswer saved the miserable cowards life 81

A secondhandsecond hand account by john R young states baptiste wasfirst taken to the grave of moroni clawson and accused by georgeclawson the dead mans brother of robbing the body

george clawson the dead mans brother jerked him baptiste out ofthe hole jammed the pistol against his temple and said telltenteliteil me whorobbed my brother or I1 will kill you and bury you in the hole youare digging the man on his knees confessed he was the robberthe people went wild rushed the grave yard opened their gravesand found so many of their loved ones robbed 82

heath continued the news of our discovery and baptistesbaptisterBaptistes confes-sion spread like wildfire and it was with difficulty that we got him tothe in 27831183278583county jail safety

oddly the deseretnewsDeseret News made no mention of the baptiste sagaat the time the possibility of an angry crowd getting out of handand lynchinglunchinglynching baptiste seemed a real possibility and the newspaper

19




probably did not wish to throw any more fuel on such a volatileissue nevertheless the whole population seemed aware of thecrime by the following evening creating a great consternationthrough the city 84

late afternoon the day following his exposure baptiste wascarted back to the cemetery to identify the graves he had robbed buthe would point out only about a dozen for fear the people wouldrise up in anger and kill him 8515 for his own safety when returningto the jail baptiste lay flat in a wagon bed covered with a blanket toscreen him from the public view early january 28 1862 all theclothes found in the baptistesbaptisterBaptistes house were displayed at the countycourthouse where several hundred funeral suits covered a broadtable fifty feet in length during the day hundreds passed throughexamining and identifying most of the clothing the pathetic spec-tacle of a grief stricken mother identifying articles of clothing froma child or a husband or wife recognizing the funeral apparel of thelife partner who had preceded them into the unseen world was asight not quickly forgotten 8616

the following day january 29 ten or eleven graves thatbaptiste had denied robbing were dug up with 3 or 4 of the bodiesfound stripped the considerable dirt with the bodies made theviewing a morbid sight another pathetic feature was the fact thatbaptiste had not only stripped the bodies but dumped them out oftheir coffins which he used for kindling wood with no moreconcern than if he were eating his dinner other graves baptisteadmitted to robbing were also opened and as expected all thebodies were found naked 8717

further questioning revealed that baptiste had been carryingon his hellish work for the past three and a half years claiming hisonly motive was to sell the clothes but another police officer albertdewey states baptiste hoarded the clothes about his house as a miserwould his gold admitting the devil was in him baptiste also con-fessed that he had robbed the dead in australia and built a meetinghouse with the avails of the robbery the chapel which was used bythe missionaries in australia 88

reports estimated baptiste had robbed about three hundredgraves principally those of women and children at first many

20




doubted that such a thing could possibly happen but furtherreopened graves revealed many bodies stripped of their clothingthe locals became so incensed over the situation that it was onlywith the greatest difficulty that the police were able to controlthe mobs that gathered each day at the prison and threatened tolynch baptiste 89

the police locked baptiste in the farthest recesses of the jailhad they not wrote judge elias smith the populace would havetorn him to pieces such was the excitement produced by the un-heard ofoccurrence wild stories began circulating through the citysome had dreams others claimed to have heard rapping on the flooron the bedstead and on tables imagining that they were hearingfrom the spirits of the dead calling upon their friends 90

burying the dead in the proper clothing was of great impor-tance to the people at the time in popularbeliefspopular beliefs and superstitionsfrom utah anthon cannon helps shed some light on why this issuewas so sensitive

A mr F sic of salt lake dreams that his mother dies and is buriedimproperly dressed meaning not in regulation LDS burial clothing

six months later his mother dies and he reminded his father of thedream his father assured him that everything would be done properlythe evening after the burial his sister found some of the mothersclothing which should have been put on her they dug the woman upand put the clothing on her 91

in response to intense public feeling reaching a feverish stateof excitement and the wide concern of the people for their deadbrigham young addressed the issue at the salt lake tabernacle onfebruary 9 1862

it appears that a man namedjohnnamenamed dJohnjohn baptiste has practiced robbingthe dead of their clothing in our grave yard during some five years pastifyou wish to know what I1 think about it I1 answer I1 am unable to thinkso low as to fully get at such a mean contempitable trick

manyaremanwareMamanynyareare anxious to knowwhatknow what effect it will have upon theirdeadtheir deadwho have been robbed weV e have done our duty in this particularand I1 for one am satisfied the saints will come forth with all the glorybeauty and excellence ofresurrected saints clothed as theywere whenthey were laid away

some may inquire whether it is necessary to put fresh linen intothe coffins of those who have been robbed I1 will promise you that

21



28 byustudiesBYU studies

they will be well clothed in the resurrection for the earth and theelements around it are full ofthese things I1 would let my friends layand sleep in peace I1 am aware of the excited state of the feelings ofthe community I1 have little to say about the cause of it the meanessdeanessof the act is so far beneath my comprehension that I1 have not venturedto think much about it 92

soon after the community agreed to gather up the funeral clothingand have the police bury the whole bundle in one grave at the cemetery

baptiste remained in jail for about three months before hisfate of banishment was finally decided A suggestion was proposedearlier by brigham young in his tabernacle address

to hang a man for such a deed would not begin to satisfy myfeelings what shall we do with him shoot him no that would do nogood to anybody but himself would you imprison him during life thatwould do nobody any good what I1 would do with him came to mequickly after I1 heard of the circumstances this I1 will mention beforeI1 make other remarks if it was left to me I1 would make him a fugitiveand a vagabond upon the earth this would be my sentence butprobably the people will not want this done 93

salt lakes john the baptist had became such a hated objectthat the sooner and further away he got from sight without being putunder ground himself the better every one would feel 9491 the graverobber was taken initially to antelope island in a wagon across a

bar through the briny water which at the time was scarcely morethan knee deep baptiste was met as planned by boatmen at ante-lope island and rowed to an island about five miles north calledfreemont island 95

before baptiste was allowed to continue with the waitingboatmen to his final destination of freemont island he was tattooedwith indelible ink not seared with hot irons as many have be-lieved with the words branded for robbing the dead 96 anothercontemporary account says that his ears were cut off and he wasbranded on the forehead with the words GRAVE ROBBER officeralbert dewey stated at the time whatever the indignities there hadbeen 2317111797provocation enough

freemont island was often referred to as millers island becausetwo brothers henry and dan miller had for some time been usingthe island for their stock they had erected a small shanty stocked

22




with basic provisions which they used on odd occasions whilechecking on their stock calling at the island about three weeksafter baptistesbaptisterBaptistes initial banishment the millers found him gettingalong very well in his loneliness A second trip to freemont islandthree weeks later found no trace of the exile albert dewey remem-bered the roof and parts of the sides of the cabin had been tornoff A part of the carcass of a three year old heifer was lying on theground a short distance away and portions of the hide werenear by cut into thongs it was evident that with the tools foundin the cabin baptiste had killed the heifer built a raft from the logsand timber of the shanty and with this had made his escape fromthe island 9891

As to baptistesbaptisterBaptistes final fate dewey added

the general belief is that he made his escape to the mainland onthe north somewhere near the promontory and it was reported sometime afterward on what would seem to be unquestioned authority thathe was seen in a montana mining camp and on being closely ques-tioned by one who recognized him confessed to being jean baptisteand related how he made his escape another rumor is that he joinedhimselfto a westbound emigrant train went to the coast where he livedfor some time before he came to utah then left san francisco wherehe feared he would be recognized and made his way to southern cali-fornia where he died 99

if baptiste did in fact reach the california coast the possibility existshe could even have returned to australia

one can continue to speculate over baptistesbaptisterBaptistes fate but what-ever the outcome john de baptiste will continue to live on in infamyin church annals as australiasAustralias most notorious convert baptiste hadlooked among several faiths and seemingly felt he had found whathe wanted with the mormonscormonsMormons yet the chapel he provided for theother religious practitioners of the day as well as for the saints wasbuilt with money from grave robbing

burstshursts utah and new zealand service

fred hurst like baptiste also initially settled in salt lake citybut in contrast lived a life which drew no unusual attention fredmarried aurelia hawkins on november 3 1858 and they had tenchildren aurelia came from a wealthy english family A reserved

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deeply religious and stately woman she enjoyed very little pleasurein life other than her home and family loo100

in april 1860 fred took a position as keeper of the station atruby valley about 300500 miles west of salt lake city on the westernroute to california 101 true to form fred made the best of a situationthat included severe winters hostile indians and a new home thatlooked more like a prison built wholey sic of logs and the neverfailing dirt roof 11102102

kate B carter wrote of fred

mr hurst believed in the policy of brigham young that offeeding the indians rather than fighting them and being a naturallykind hearted man he desired to alleviate their suffering many times hegave the indians who came to the station bread and also a kind of poihe had learned to make in the islands at christmas time he gave thema special treat of a large plum pudding which he had steamed in floursacks over a bon fire the indians were deeply appreciative ofthese actsof kindness and often warned him of hostile bands who were bent ondestroying the station thus he had time to secure proper defence 103101

in 1865 fred and aurelia moved with their three children tologan utah where fred led an unassuming life farming and raisinghis family until 1868 when he was run over by a load of hay andnearly killed his left arm being paralyzed forced to quit farmingfanningentirely fred turned his attention to house painting graining etcwhich he developed into a good business with more work than hecould handle 104101

although fred had made a new life for himself in utah histhoughts must have often been upon his childhood home of newzealand and a mother he had not seen in over twenty years As fatewould have it missionary emphasis had shifted from australia tonew zealand where by 1887 membership would total an amazing2500 of which the vast majority were maori 105 laying the founda-tion for this growth were brothers fred and charles clement hurstwho returned to new zealand in 1875 this time on a special mis-sion to the laorismaoris 106

fred left his family in deep sorrow and anguishanguish107107 on accountof his eight year old daughter dying three days before his departurefred and his brother charles clement arrived in new zealand ondecember 14 1875 and were met with a cold reception

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the papers greeted us with a dose of billingsgatebillings gate and a rehashfrom the san francisco chronicle stating also that they hoped wewould get as cordial a reception as an elder had experienced inwellington some time ago when he was saluted with sundry deadcats and other ordorous accompamementsaccompaniements sic the press actuallycountenancing and advocating MOB LAWIAW so much for prejudiceand blind bigotry 108

freds immediate concern was to locate his mother when hefound her in a very feeble state fred recalled she was overjoyed atseeing me but could scarcely realize it was true that we had comeat last to see her after such a long absence log10909 fred and charles hadplanned to link back up with the other missionaries after a briefvisit but due to lack of funds fred was forced to remain behind andattempt to open the wellington area to the restored gospel the fol-lowing six months would be very lonely and trying for fred

colima en route to new zealand from hawaii fred hurst made this 1875diary entry nov 25th drew a sketch ofthe colima the steamship he wason run 277 miles the wind on our starboard quarter charley his brothergetting worse every day though he says his cough is better I1 draw a littleevery day so that I1 dont have much idle time I1 study the maori languageevery morning I1 begin to read quite fluently already in the testamenthurst diary 118 courtesy ofoffloydoffloadfloyd H hurst

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I1 scarcely know what to do everybody I1 used to be acquaintedwith gives me the cold shoulder 110llolio

I1 got an abusive and insulting letter from by brother alfred buthave concluded not to notice it would be beneath me to stoop so low

I1ulI1 I1as to answer it

january loth I1 took a long walk to find a secret place to retire tofor I1 felt bowed down and bewildered not knowing where to go orwhat to do everything seemed shut down for want of funds in theanxiety of my soul I1 whishedwhisher sic to exclaim oh lord I1 am here todo thy will and not my own wilt thou in thy tender mercy make itmanifest unto me what I1 shall do for the best interest of this missionif it is thy will that I1 should preach in this place wilt thou providemeans to hire a hall or what shall I1 do and whither shall I1 go to accom-plish the most goodgood112112

fred did manage to hire a hall and began preaching regularlyhanding out tracts and holding gospel discussions with whomeverwould lend him a moment but most only wanted to know aboutpoligamypolygamypoligamy sic and not baptism 113 the newspapers also did notspare their abuse and misrepresentation calling fred a sickly saintfromfromuthfromvthutah 114111 the evening post ofofjanuaryjanuary 171718761876 wrote thatthalfredthatfredfredaddressed a large congregation on sunday afternoon and was in-vited by the evangelist to a public discussion and that elder hurst themormon prophet and all his absurdities were entirely disposed of 11115nan5

fred with his uncanny knack to turn even the most discourag-ing situations into something positive comments

here am I1 a stranger in a strange land insulted and despised by all

that know me abused by the press priests and people and what forbecause I1 have the priesthood of the Ahalmightynighty and a message fromhigh heaven to warn the people to repent of their sins ere thejudgments of god will overtake them as a thief in the night As I1 havewritten in some of my letters it has never fell to my lot to meet with somany rebuffs slights insults and abuse and crosses and disappoint-ments in such a short space of time as I1 have since I1 landed here andyet the hand of the lord is over me for good and I1 often realize it to a

marvelous extent

but it does not do to brood over these things although things lookdark now I1 firmly believe there will be a change before long even ifthe lord has to come and stir the people up by his power he will doall things well 116ilg

freds faith and perseverance were not misplaced he waspossibly the first latter day saint to leamlearn the maori tongue and

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actively try to proselyte among the natives the following reflectionby fred was indeed prophetic

I1 had a very pleasant dream last night that filled my soul with joyunutterable A personage was talking to me he appeared to be stand-ing in the air several feet from the ground and was telling me or givingme an account of some very great and important events several ofwhich will transpire within a year from this date concerning thelamanitesLamanites laorismaorisMaoris and cited me to a certain passage in the bookof mormon that was not being fulfilled concerning that people butwhen I1 awoke alas the dream and the passage referred to fled frommy memory for which I1 feel sorrysonysont but presume it is all right 117

months later a letter was received from brigham young con-firming freds feelings it requested that the missionaries study themaori language for the time had come for them to hear the gospel 118

while in new zealand the hurst brothers suffered not onlypublic abuse but also lack of money to meet basic expenses andprovide bare essentials fred writes we are in a very destitute con-dition and it requires all our courage and that would not amount tomuch without the spirit of the lord to comfort and cheer our hearts 119

sometimes we go a whole week without meat butter is a raritywe live mostly on oatmeal porridge and sop but we have sickenedon oatmeal we cant both go to town together on account ofcharleys clements boots have given out and that leaves us withbut one pair between us and we wear them turn about 1112033120120

through it all each difficulty seemed little more than a diver-sion for fred he never lost sight of how his life fell into christsscheme of things never became frustrated or angry just took it all

in stride with a resilience that would anger any skeptic oh howvery happy I1 ought to be for the hand of the lord has been over andround about me and mine for good and my heart swells within meand my gratitude to devoting myself my time and my all for the upbuilding of gods kingdom and the spread of truth and while impermitted to live on earth I1 want to do good 121

one commodity fred never lacked was true and sincere friendswhen fred had left on his mission he was overwhelmed by commu-nity generosity 122 news of freds release was soon followed by 300in gold raised by the brothers and sisters ofofloganlogan to help pay his farehome 123121125 fred commented when I1 thought of such kindness I1 felt

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very humble and asked myself the question am I1 worthy of so muchkindness and solicitudesolicitude124124

fred returned to logan in june 1877 his journal entries for thetime highlight the fact that fred was a man truly loved and respectedby his family and friends

we found quite a large assembly at the station to welcome usI1 didnt really feel worthy of so much honor such a cordial shakingof hands

I1 will never forget brother L farr hauled us home in his wagoncrowded to the guards we were hailed coming along the streets andhad to jump out every once in a while to shake hands finally wereached home found my dear wife tolerably well but looking verythin and careworn the twins had grown remarkably and leo quite awhile after I1 got home kept saying take me to my papa take me tomy papa I1itellootellteilteli oo00

the children were all delighted with the shells and coralscorald thatI1 brought along everything was new to them besides images andanimals carved out ofwood a box made of sandal wood and beautifullycarved by chinese and then all my sketches etc

in the evening a very large company over three hundred camedown with brother william knowles to serenade us god bless themfor their kindness my wife says you must go out and invite them inI1 told her our city lot would scarcely hold them I1 made a few remarksto thank them and felt to bless them in the name of the lord jesus 125

fred continued painting part time he lived near the temple inlogan utah where he spent much of his time doing work forthe dead in 1892 93 freds artistic talents were called upon toengrave and paint the inside of the salt lake temple 126121 althoughso sick with vomiting he believed the completion of the temple

was of such importance that he never missed a days work untilthe project was finished 127

one of freds last entries in his journal is a truly remarkable oneand a testimony to what his life centered upon family missionarywork and temple work fred recorded

along about the ist of march 1893189311 found myself alone in thedining room all had gone to bed I1 was sitting at the table when to mygreat surpizesurpise sic my elder brother alfred walked in and sat downopposite me at the table and smiled I1 said to him he looked so naturalwhen did you arrive in utah

34



A self portrait of frederick william hurst 1833 1918 original incolor date unknown hurst served as a missionary in australia hawaiicalifornia and new zealand he also worked as a craftsman on the salt lakeand logan temples courtesy ofofbethbeth taylor

35



42 byustudiesBYU studies

he said 1I have just comefromthespiritworldcome from the spirit world this is notrnybodynot my bodythatthatyouseeyou see it is lying in the tomb I1 want to tell you that when you wereon you mission you told me many things about the gospel and thehereafter and about the spirit world being as real and tangible as

the earth I1 could not believe you but when I1 died and went there andsaw for myself I1 realized that you had told the truth I1 attended themormon meetings he raised his hand and said with much warmth1I believe in the lord jesus christ with all my heart I1 believe in faithand repentance and baptism for the remission of sins but that is as faras I1 can go I1 look to you to do the work for me in the temple you arewatched closely every move you make is known there and we wereglad you came we are all looking to you as our head in this great workI1 want to tell you that there are a great many spirits who weep andmourn because they have relatives in the church here who are care-less and are doing nothing for them 128118

accordingly fred later authorized the work to be done 1299

frederick william hurst foot soldier for the gospel diedoctober 30 1918 at age eighty five 130 like those of a vast majorityof less eminent converts fred hurstsbursts life was not characterized byany one great event to immortalize his name in LDS history fredserved without popular distinction prominence or position but hisexample truly influenced people from all walks of life in manylands 15111131131 for example youthful john A widstoe remembered anaged fred hurst

he always kept a beautiful flower garden at his home just belowthe agricultural college at logan where I1 was laboring as presidentof that institution naturally my responsibilities were heavy in times ofdiscouragement I1 would often take a walk real early in the morningwhen all was quiet where I1 could be alone with my thoughts fredwas always out with a very cheery good morning and if I1 gave nosigns of being in a hurry he would talk over the fence it usually was notlong until some remark we had made brought from his store ofwisdomand experience some story of his early days and I1 would listen to himhe had such a marvelous personality and as his face glowed with faithand cheerfulness one never tired of his stories of actual living for itseemed his life had reached out into every worthwhile activity ofmanhe had a cheerfulness that would dispel any worry or fears and I1 wouldgo back to my labors full of encouragement and faith in the purpose oflife and that god was interested in all of his children and wouldoverrule for the good and blessing of any who would trust in him tomake life or tasks conform to the will of god 132

no one could have mapped out a longer route to zion eitherin physical miles or spiritual trials than did hurst and baptiste who

36




both managed to escape the goldfieldsgoldfields and their quagmire of reli-gious indifference moral leprosy and isolation but what turned outto be a refiners fire for hurst proved to be little more than a handwarming flame for baptiste

for many people evil has a perverse and entertaining fascina-tion while the whole and significant sum ofa good mans works passby unnoticed good is less likely to catch our interest this is nobetter illustrated than in the lives of fred hurst andjohnandyjohnand john de baptistethe brief appearance of baptiste in our history catches the mindand stirs the imagination to ponder the sensational but of the fredhurstsbursts of the world president howard W hunter wrote there aremany great unnoticed and forgotten heroes among us I1 am speak-ing of those of you who quietly and consistently do the thingsyou ought to do I1 am talking about those who are always there andalways willingwilting to do the many simple and minor things that willultimately make us great 135155133131

john devitry smith from molongbolong new south wales australia works as an engineerwith intergraphIntergraph corporation in seattle washington

NOTES

johnohn ritchie australia as once we were new york holmes and meier1963861963 86

21 robert hughes the fatal shore the epic ofaustraliasof anstrAustraustraliasalfasaliasairas founding newyork alfred A knopf 1987 585

3 amasa potter journal archives division church historical departmentthe church of jesus christ of latter day saints salt lake city hereafter cited asLDS church archives potter referred to the new south wales gold mines butcharacterizes a general consensus concerning the goldfieldsgold fields

I41 samuel H hurst and ida hurst eds and comps diary of frederick hurstapnp 1961 appendix samuel H hurst is the same person who participated in theprayer under the pepper tree with david 0 mckay as discussed in the article bylavina fielding anderson in this issue ofBYUbyustudiesstudies

5 deseret news december 2 19911991 sec B 1 2 this article is basically a re-write of the article robber of the dead deseret evening news may 27 1893 8

wilford woodruff wifordwilford woodruffewoodruffswoodruffsjournaljournal ed scott G kenney 9 volsmidvale utah signature 1984 613 journal accounts refer to baptiste as john

baptist or jean baptiste and ironically by his nickname john the baptist7 dale L morgan the great salt lake ed milo M quaife new york bobbs

merrill 1947 274

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I81 manning clarkdark A short history ofaustraliaof australia victoria penguin 1963 209 times and seasons 6 april 1 1845 85710 10thomasthomas H threevesshreevesThreeves finding comfort helpful visions faith promoting

series vol 14 salt lake city juvenile instructor office 1887 42ideseretnewsdeseret nemsnews february 111118521852 this is a letter from charles W wandell

to brigham young heber C kimball and willard richards everything in australiaduring the period was compared to england from superior climate to inferior fashion

12 A chapter on gold digging millennial star november 11 1852 295this is a letter from charles wandell to franklin D richards negative accounts ofthe colony and people were easy to locate for example wandell later referred toaustralia as this filthy sink of devildom from missionary william hyde we heartruly we are in the midst ofa perverse people whose god is gold deseretnewsdeseret nemsnews

december 7 1854 39 josiah fleming stated 1I view myself as being in this faroff land of darkness degradation and misery josiah fleming to brigham youngoctober 30 1855 LDS church archives

augustus famhamfarnhamfarham to brigham young june 6 1853 LDS church archives14 millennial star december 16 1854 798 this is a letter from augustus

farnham to franklinFrankfrankiinfrankilnbinfin D richards september 18 185415 augustus farnhamfamhamfarham to amasa lyman december 4 1855 LDS church

archives16 augustus farnham to amasa lyman february 14 1856 LDS church

archives17 augustus farnham to brigham young may 5 18518555 LDS church archives

absolom P dowdle commented that colony victoria is rather worse fortraveling without money than the colony of NSW for this reason the generalfeeling with the people of victoria is that a person there has money and if he hasnot they think that he should go to work and get means to travel with absolom P

dowdle to george A smith george A smith collection LDS church archives18 burr frost to brigham young december 26 1853 burr frost diary LDS

church archives19 joseph kelly diary january 15 1857 and january 21 1857 LDS church

archives20 ritchie australia 8621 hurst diary 1 522 hurst diary 5 the hurst family originally came from the isle of jersey

hurst diary 1

23 hurst diary 6 721 geoffrey hindley discodiscoveryvery gold the inintriguingbrigutrigu ing story ofthe worlds most

valued resource london orbis 1983 12225 hurst diary 726 hurst diary 7 8 noted historian geoffrey blainey feels the dangers were

exaggerated and writes that although armed bushrangersbushrangers molested the main roadsto goldfieldsgoldfields and cutthroatscutthroats murdered their mates in tents and golden holes thesesigns of violence were only one side of the page the side the newspapers liked toprint the goldfieldsgoldfields chief commissioner noted on I11 october 1852 that the crimerate was no higher on the diggings than in the whole colony geoffrey blainey therush that never ended A history ofaustralianof australian mining melbourne melbourneuniversity press 196311963 4411 however other contemporaneous reports and atatleastatleaseleast

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one modem historian disagree with BlabiablamBlarbiamblaineysblarneysineysneysmeys assessment see ray aitchison theamericans in australia melbourne AE press 1986 43 49 american minercharles D ferguson an old hand had previously worked in the californiandiggings and remembered bendigo as

certainly one of the worstplacesworst places on earth in 1852531852 53 onewasonedasone was not safegoing outside his tent after dark as he was liable to be either shot orsand bagged and robbed there was no end of such desperate murder-ous rascality it would take a thousand pages to record what I1 havepersonally known to say nothing of all that has been reported fromthe various districts in the colony they would steal washdirtwashdirt rob aclaim or kill a man without compunction there were parties that didnothing else but go around thru the day and leamlearn where the best dirtor richest claims were and come at night and carry off the dirt

later he noted that the greatest change noticablenoticeablenoticable to an early miner is inthe absence of all the old hands who were either hung or died in prisoncharles D ferguson the experiences of a forty niner in thirty four years resi-

dence in california and australia ed frederick J wallace cleveland williamspublishing 1888 249

2721 hurst diary 9 francis evans with his wife and five children emigrated onthe tarquiniotarquiniaTarquinia in 1855 arriving in san francisco in july 1857 western standardjuly 24 1857 2

2821 hurst diary 929 thomas holder would return to new zealand in 1854 in company with

augustus farnham and william cooke as the first LDS missionaries to the land wherehe remained active in the work in 1870 holder was appointed president of thekaforikarori branch B hunt zion in new zealand 1854 1977 temple view newzealand church college of new zealand 197711977 6 fred sometimes called hisbrother charles and sometimes clement

3031 hurst diary 1031after31 ahterafterahner arriving in melbourne mid may 1853 burr frost 1815 1878 adver-

tised in the local newspaper and began preaching on sundays near st peters churchat the top ofcollins street upon the first principles ofthe gospel to rowdy crowdson the first sunday frost recorded 1flI had probably one hundred present withas much feeling of mobocracy as ever I1 saw in my life frost diary may 22 1853LDS church archives

32john31john murdock journal special collections harold B lee library brighamyoung university provo utah 55555656 john murdock was bornbom in 1792 he was anearly convert to the church fall of 1830 being baptized about the same time assidney rigdon and frederick G williams in june 183118318511 he was called on a missionto accompany hyrum smith he helped obtain permission from citizens of daviesscounty missouri to create a mormon settlement at dewitt he served as the firstbishop of salt lake l4th14thlath ward daniel ludlow A companion to your study ofthe doctrine and covenants 2 vols salt lake city deseret book 197819781 2365murdock was a seasoned preacher and silent strongman of the church but by thetime he arrived in australia he was bordering on sixty years of age his body couldno longer keep up with his spirit in his own words he recalled that considering

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the weakness of my body the affliction and trembling of my nerves and badness ofmy eyesight I1 am not fit murdock journal 57

melbourne was not only the gate of entry to the goldfieldsgoldfields but also the resortof hundreds of ex convicts who had flooded across bass strait from van diemensdielensDiemensland in search of easy money the police never a particularly fine body of menhad almost all resigned and gone to the goldfieldsgoldfields desperate attempts to replacethem brought into the force a riffraff of ex convicts who saw better pickings asservants of the law than as its proclaimed enemies norman bartlett australia andamerica through 200 years 177619761776191776 19197676 sydney S U smith at the fine arts press

197691976195333 george W watson had volunteered for a mission to melbourne arriving

four months before wandell but he had not been preaching watson was active fora time but could not agree with polygamy stating a man should cleave to one wifefrost diary september 4 1853

baptizedjanuarybaptized january 551837518571837 at age seventeen wandell quickly became an activemissionary A man of great capacity and competence having a proud almostarrogant air about himself he had a great influence on the early growth anddevelopment of the church in australia he organized the first group of converts toleave australia in 1853 joined the reorganized church in 1873 and was called bythem to open the gospel in australia after returning to sydney he became crippledwith rheumatism and died shortly after on march 141418751875 inez smith biographyof charles wesley wandell the journal of history lamoni iowa board ofpublications reorganized church of jesus christ of latter day saints 191013461910 34611466 463

millennial3millennial star april 2218531853 220 wandellslandellsWandells stay in melbourne was briefhe departed december 9 1852 difficulties within the branch at sydney forced hisearly return in reference to the converts from the british isles wandell issued a stemsternwarning to those thinking of coming to try their luck in the diggings his lengthyimaginary account concerning a group of englishmen foolish enough to venture tothe goldfieldsgoldfields instead of going to zion reads in part

they are received by a set of vultures who will if possible by fairmeans or foul drain them of every farthing before they leave themwherever they go they will meet with extortion they must pay twoand sixpence for a dirty meal they will have to pay two shillings andsixpence per night for the meanest lodgings with the greatest pro-babilitybability of being robbed before morning well what is it why it isthe lowest pit of englandsglandsEn HELL millennial star april 303018532781853 278

35 zions watchman august 13 1853 1

36 living conditions in the goldfieldsgoldfields were hard consisting only of the bareessentials our house is nine feet square and is made of canvass our furnitureconsists of a bed which is made by laying the bark of trees on the ground andthrowing gum leaves on it and fourblankets a blanket to each man an ax a pick fourshovels and a colt revolving pistol apiece completes our parlor furniture E danielpotts and annette potts young americans and australian gold americans andthe gold rush of the 1850s st lucia university ofofgreenslandgreenslandGreens land press 1974 63the work from dawn to dusk six days a week was difficult lonely and dangerous

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and held little glamour the miners existing basically on mutton damper and blacktea the odds were against a man even making a living in the goldfieldsgoldfields with thebest of the diggings finished by 1853 ritchie australia 91 93

37 american williamwithamwilham cooke had been baptized only weeks earlier by themission president augustus farnham in sydney and had arrived in melbourne onjune 21 1853 informing frost that he intended to continue on to the goldfieldsgoldfields atbendigo frost had set cooke apart to preach in the mining districts of victoriain as mutch sic as the lord should open the way before him frost diary septem-ber 11 1853 cooke was instrumental in the development of the church in thebendigo castlemaine area the nucleus of the LDS church invictoria during the earlyto mid 1850s cooke the founding father of the new zealand mission was mur-dered in logan utah in 1858 hosea stout records tuesday 12 oct 1858 about8 oclock an attack was made by three men on br william cook keeper of thelock up cook was shot through the thigh breaking the bone cooke died a weeklater after much suffering juanita brooks ed on the mormon frontier thediary ofhoseaof hosea stout 184418611844 1861 2 vols salt lake city university of utah press196419641 1667

38 hurst diary 11 the gold diggers branch the first branch of the churchin the victorian goldfieldsgoldfields was organized by burr frost and william cooke nearpresent day bendigo in the tent offrancis evans september 131318531853 by september1854 the church in victoria had five branches and fifty one members zionswatchman october 14 1854 156

39 hurst diary 114011 hurst diary 12 the doctrine of plural marriage from its introduction

caused problems for the missionaries burr frost publicly introduced the doctrineinto victoria and received considerable abuse for example after the wife ofan eldersymmons a hotheadedhot headed woman at the best of times obtained a copy of the deseretnews containing a detailed account of polygamy she became so enraged that sheattempted to attack frost in the open street and on another occasion threatenedfrost that if she could see me that she would tare sic my eyes out frost diaryoctober 1852 may 1854 apparently of the ten elders sent to australia in 1853 atleast two who were already married took another wife in australia mission presA P dowdle claimed to have married and had three children while john nortontook a third wife absolom porter dowdle diary LDS church archives williamrobb the only member in australia documented as having taken a second wife wasdisfellowshippeddisfellowshipped briefly for his action journal history of the church december 121857 micromicrofilmfihn harold B lee library

41 hurst diary 124241 hurst diary 1243 hurst diary 1344 hurst diary 1345 hurst diary 354641 hurst diary 8341as47 As most of the men were at the mines and it was difficult to preach outdoors

in melbourne during the winter frost had concluded to stay with james mcknightat the bendigo diggings if I1 could not preach br mcknight said he would board metwo or three months and I1 could help cook and assist him when he neededfrost diary july 3 1853 echoing his frustration in melbourne frost wrote got

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to meditating upon the wickedness of the people in this country as a specimen ofthe daily occurrences in this country it is common to read in the morning news offrom fifty to one hundred cases before the mayor and police magistrate fordrunkenessdrunkennessdrunkeness petty thefts sightingsfightingsfigh tings indecent exposure etc frost diary septem-ber 11 1853

from melbourne july 5518541854 alexander pain wrote 1 I preach every sundayon the wharf the principles of the gospel to the great body of the people I1 havepreached four sundays and have become quite a favourite with the peopleI1 cannot find any latter day saints here except one or two who have been likemyself and you know they would give me no comfort zions watchman august5 18541271854 127 just as the californian diggings had been a windfall for the pioneersin the salt lake valley the fortunes of the australian mission seemed to run parallelwith the success of the goldfieldsgoldfields gold from members in the diggings subsidized thezions watchman along with other printing as well as supporting missionaryexpenses and immigrationimntitrationtigration costs salt lake city also benefited from australian goldin 1853 a subscription was taken up and sent to brigham young to help build thetemple miner clem hurst for example paid over gooagoo900 in tithing on one occasionalone to burr frost hurst diary 18

48 hurst diary 13 two varying accounts of sunday at the diggings read as

follows on sundays ordained clergymen or cornish diggers preached from cartsor stumps or pulpits in vast tents to some of the largest congregations that had everassembled in the land revivalist crusades converted hundreds at the height of newrushes blainey the7 be rush that never ended 414 1

with sunday proclaimed as a day ofrest the commissioner was anxiousto stamp out all goldfield trading especially that associated with the saleof illicit liquor sunday august loth 1851 was observed in a mostheathen like manner by sofalassokalasSofalas drunken majority at big oakey creeka londoner and australian fought 18 rounds over 55 minutes for a

10 stake only two hundred yards away the reverend chapmanattempted to conduct an outdoor wesleyan service the cleric com-manded the attention of a mere 30 followers whilst his oppositionattracted a crowd ofone thousand onlookers an afternoon service wasmarred by noise from a cricket match foot racing and jumpingcontests others openly gambled played pitch and toss and heldtarget practice for money john rule sofalasoala days and turonitesTuronitesnew south wales australia pearl printing 1980 121312 13

4919 hurst diary 1350 hurst diary 1451 sunday meetings held by the saints attracted good crowds attheat the castlemaine

diggings where the size of the turnouts for a mormon service surprised the localnewspapers potts and potts young americans 70

52 hurst diary 1853 woodruff journal 61454 hurst diary 1655 hurst diary 1656 hurst diary 16 james mcknight 183019081830 1908 tenth convert and original

member of the first branch of the church organized in sydney was baptized at the

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age of twenty one on december 11 1851 and quickly became an excellentmissionary james married sarah howell of the newcastle branch in april 18518555 andemigrated on the tarquiniotarquiniaTarquinia james mcknight paid frosts and smiths passageaboard the tarquiniotarquiniaTarquinia and also gave smith 500050.005000 james C mcknight compjames McKnigmcknightbt and his antecedents in scotland with an account of his earlydays in australia and on his way to america fort collins npap 1987 23 30he settled at minersvilleMinersville utah where he became the first mayor and later thepatriarch mcknight james mcknightMcKnigbt 33

57 hurst diary 1658158511 excerpts from the journal ofofalonzoalonzo colton LDSIDSioslos church archives 459 their contribution to utah our pioneer heritage comp katebkate B carter

20 vols salt lake city daughters ofutah pioneers 1958 1273 tarquiniotarquiniaTarquinia is oftenwritten as tarqueeniatarqueniaTarquenia

60journal60 journal ofjohnofjohn T caine heart throbs of the west comp kate B carter12 vols salt lake city daughters of utah pioneers 1943 5246

61 connway B sonne saints on the sea salt lake city university of utahpress 19831119831985 11

62 journal of john T caine 249 28063 hurst diary appendix 1

64 hurst diary 1965 hurst diary 45 these types of faith promoting experiences are typical

throughout hurstsbursts journal66hurst66 hurst diary 6767hurst67 hurst diary 6768 hurst diary 7769hurst69 hurst diary 206 hurst recounts of the event 1 I attended the con-

ference of the church in san francisco april 6 1857 being set apart with someother young elders president george Q cannon was mouth I1 was very muchastonished to hear him say brother fred the lord called you when you were a

child and you received a promise that you should be one of the one hundred andforty four thousand that should stand upon mt zion and sing a new song and nowby virtue and authority of the holy priesthood I1 seal and confirm that promiseon your head

707 hurst diary 8571 hurst diary 997271 hurst diary 100 10101loi173j73 J R young scrapbook january 1862 LDS church archives7471 robber of the dead deseret evening news may 27 1893 875 for a more detailed account of the death of clawson see deseret news

march 26 1862 1

7616 robber of the dead 8771 robber of the dead 87871 historians office journal november 1861 february 1863 LDS church

archives79 robber of the dead 880 woodruff journal 613 1481 robber of the dead 88212 young scrapbook january 1862

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83 robber of the dead 884 woodruff journal 61481585115 annie C carrcan ed and comp east ofantelope island history of the first

fifty years ofofdavisdauisdavis county salt lake city publishers press 1948 32robber of the dead 8

8717 historians office journal november 1861 february 1863 LDS churcharchives

88 woodruff journal 61415614 15 baptistesbaptisterBaptistes behavior was bizarre enough toraise the question of whether he was sane nevertheless his was a sensational storyat the time

89 history of brigham young january 28 71862 LDS church archives

90 president brigham young at the tabernacle february 9 1862 deseretnews march 26186226 1862 1

91 anthon S cannon popular beliefs and superstitions from utah edwayland D hand and jeannie E talley salt lake city university of utah press

19843061984 3065069291 deseret news march 26 1862 1 brigham youngs first response to the

event was recorded in his office journal january 27 1862 7 LDS church archives341 42 the day of baptistesbaptisterBaptistes arrest

93 morgan the7 be great salt lake 277 what happened to baptiste the courtrecords along with the deseret news for the era are silent on the matter historiandale L morgan wrote the personal journal of judge elias smith is the soleindication that baptiste ever received a judicial hearing least of all a trial morganthe7 be great salt lake 276

94 robber of the dead 89591 robber of the dead 891 robber of the dead 8 branding notorious criminals was a common legal

practice in colonial america see for example laws of the province ofofpennspennsalvaniailvania sic philadelphia bradford 1714 38

97 folklore has it that ephraim hanks tied a rock to baptistesbaptisterBaptistes neck and threwhim into the great salt lake carr east of antelopeofantelope island 33

9891 robber of the dead 899 robber of the dead 810pamily10familyfamily history ofaureliaaurella hawkins in possession ofkerrytingeykerry tingey madison

alabama1101loiI hurst diary appendix102112 hurst diary 111103 hurst diary appendix 1

104 hurst diary 112105 james R moss R lanier britsch and james R christensen the interna-

tional church provo utah brigham young university press 1982 128106 their contribution to utah 262 and hurst diary 112 many changes

had taken place in victoria and the australasian mission since freds departure onthe tarquiniotarquiniaTarquinia in 1855 A new crop of converts took over in leadership positionsin victoria and in the latter part of 1856 sixteen more american elders arrived inaustralia the majority landing at melbourne on november 17 1856 four of themwere assigned to victoria

at face value progress seemed imminent but a lack of direction disagree-ment bickering and frustration with the conditions and a hardening public attitude

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combined to stifle any hope of a new high missionary joseph kelting after beingsent to geelonggeebongGeelong victoria early in 1857 found that the members had all deserted theplace and he could not find an opening thare sic and so decided to continueon to ballaratballaranBallarat but found that organizing a branch there looked almost impossiblehe added that the principle business is digging gold and drinking and spreingspreine sic

there is as much prostitution as ever I1 have seen kelting notes that the majorityof saints left on thethejennyjenny ford and what few were left were disatisfied sic

the mission was in decline and would not see any permanent signs of revivaluntil the turn ofthe century josephjosepha A kelting to brighamyoungBrighabrigham youngmYoung february 221857LDSldschurcharchivesafinalblowtotheaustralianmissioninthechurcharchivesChurch Archives A finalfinaiblowbiowto theaustralian mission in the 1850swas the newsthat troops were marching on utah all american missionaries were called home

shortly before his departure president andrew stewart noted since our lastconference in january the times have been very dull and great opposition to thework has been manifested in australia the attention of almost everyone had beenturned to themormonthe mormon war some say they ought to be killed off others are waitingto see the result and if the saints are not all killed off they will come out on thelords side the victorian mission is not doing much it numbers but few saints atthis time andrew J stewart millennial star april 10 1858 44 amasa potterwrote they said that we had preached to them that the god of heaven had spokenin these last days and had sent an holy angel and had restored the holy priesthoodand the keys to build up the church and kingdom of god on the earth and now saidthey the next ship that arrives from america will bring the news of the destructionofall themormonsinthe mormonscormonsMormons in utah amasa potter missionary sketches millennial staroctober 3 18711871633633635

shortly after returning to utah andrewAndrewJJ stewart the last american missionpresident to visit victoria in the 1850s gave a report in the salt lake tabernacleconcerning the conditions in melbourne 1 I saw many females laying drunk in thestreet I1 saw four men with their throats cut in one day it was with the greatestdifficulty we got to preach in the first place we had to leamlearn the way of the peopleat first we went around selling books by this means got to talk to the people provoutah stake minutes general minutes vol 10 1855 1856 september 25 185910 AM stewarts statement of seeing four men with their throats cut in one dayis likely an exaggeration he used to illustrate his point

converts continued leaving from victoria in small groups in the yearsfollowing and missionary work continued intermittently but with little lastingsuccess the members being scattered over a vast area and generally unorganizedefforts were made to reestablish the australasian mission but with poor results withthe elders being needed elsewhere australia became a low priority

job welling who arrived in melbourne victoria late in 1875 wrote of thegeneral stagnation thepeople largely english came here forthe purpose ofgettingrich and have been in the habit of earning big wages and spending all they could gettheir hands upon in the most reckless manner horse racing boat racing bettinggambling of every description are in order with lots of drinking and lewdness onevery hand yet churches and chapels abound religious liberty is of such a cast as

to deprive it of all sanctuary you may do what you please think what you pleaseit makes no particular difference they regard it all about alike and are extremelyindifferent all classes join eagerly in the outcry atmormonismMormonismat Momionism deseretnewsDeseret Newsfebruary 23 1876

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107 hurst diary 168108 hurst diary 122109 hurst diary 122110iioilo hurst drydiary 1271111ililii hurst diary 129112 hurst diabydiarydiaiy 1321131 hurst drydiary 133114 hurst diary 133115 hurst dimydiary 134116 hurst diarydr 141411117 hurst diary1 157118 hurst diary 157119 hurst diary 1571120I hurst diary 159121 hurst diary 168122111112121 hurst diabydrpdiaiy 112125113123115 hurst diary 197124114 hurst diary 197125115 hurst diary 204126111121 frederick W hurst pertaining to temple work in voicesvoicesfromices fromarom the past

provo campus education week 1980 10101loliol1 although his journal simply mentionsthat he worked at painting in the salt lake temple he probably helped withthe engraving hurstsbursts journal has numerous sketches along with reference to hisengraving and painting A relative of fred hurstsbursts has about fifty five sketches byhurst confirming freds artistic ability is this quote a mr carr stepped up andinquired of the boys who had done the carving that is a very handsome pieceofwork turning to me he said did you do thatithatchati I1 replied yes sir he answeredwhat a pity you should be so foolish as to throw your lifetime and talents in sucha place as salt lake city among those mormonscormonsMormons hurst diary 164 page 186 ofthe logan temple book reads he fred hand carved chairs for the logan templeand didgold leafing and some oftheodtheofthe murals on the wall see also nolan porter olsenlogan temple the first 100 years providence utah keith W watkins and sons1978 186 which says the chairs were placed in the sealing rooms beth B

lawrence direct descendent of fred hurst called the logan temple and was toldthey had one of freds carved chairs in storage beth B lawrence interview

june 19921127I hurst diary 204 the family picture pedigree chart our family

pedigree in the possession of beth B lawrence lists his occupation as floristand oil painter

12811urst12811128 hursturst diary 204129hurst129 hurst diary 205130150 family picture pedigree chart131151 hurst diarydimy appendix 2151132131152 hurst diary appendix 2 3115513511313313 howard W hunter what Is true greatness ensign 17 september

1987 72134john34john currey introduction in the goldfieldsgoldfteldsGoldmieldsfields viustBlustillustratedrated the sketches of

S T gill melbourne lansdowne press 1972 10

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the saint and the grave robber - brigham young university

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